Dara and Jessie’s First Look

June 14, 2011

The First Look session is a growing trend stateside – it’s where the bride & groom see each other before the wedding, with their photographer on standby to capture the moment. It breaks from the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride until they reach the altar, but as it’s an intimate moment, some couples are opting to keep it private. For emotional brides or grooms, this is a godsend. Dara and Jesse decided to have a First Look for their wedding. Dara tells us about how they really made the day theirs…

The First Look…

The part of the day that stood out the most was when Jesse and I saw each other for the first time. We had decided to see each other before the ceremony but we hadn’t quite thought it out very well before we got to the wedding venue. I was afraid there’d be a ton of people there when we saw each other for the first time, and I really wanted it to be an intimate moment just for the two of us. So my bridesmaids, my awesome photographer, and videographer set up the perfect setting. I waited oh so patiently in the barn while my sister ran to get my husband to be. When he got to the barn he waited on one side while I came around the corner and I’ll never forget the look on his face the first time he saw me. Tears about to flow, and the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. It was untraditional, but I’m so glad we did it the way we did. Just the two of us.

DIY

We did a bunch of DIY. My husband Jesse is great with photoshop so we designed all our place cards, our invitations, and save the dates, one of my bridesmaids designed our ceremony programs, we cut out different fabric squares for our wedding quilt/guest book.

We also made our table runners, bought little wooden numbers for the table numbers and spray painted them yellow, and I collected all the white bud vases and the blue ball jars over the course of a year or so at different thrift stores.

Advice For Brides to Be

For all the brides planning their weddings I’d definitely recommend a videographer. It’s definitely a splurge but your wedding comes to life for you and really captures the essence of the day. Jesse and I also did an after party after our reception at a different location where we got married and it was nice to be able to sit and spend more intimate time with the people you love. Plus it extends one of, what seems, the shortest days of your life. Definitely a plus.

And one last thing. Don’t be afraid to delegate different tasks to people that you know will do a good job. If I didn’t have help the last two weeks before the wedding I would have driven myself mad and gotten absolutely NO sleep. Everyone did a great job and I was so thankful that people were able to help.